Snowed here today... NOT!

For our family and friends battling the snow in the midwest, we want you to know that we suffer with you.! We went to Kiawah Island today and I have to tell you, I was wearing a t-shirt and was a little chilled walking on the beach today!  Temp with the wind was only 66!  After the beach, we went to see the famous Angel Oak.

The Angel Oak

Following is some information on the Angel Oak:

If you ever have an opportunity to see the Angel Oak, don't pass it up.  I guarantee you will be in awe of what God has made!  We are staying in Charleston until the 29th, then heading to Savannah.  That is, if this frigid weather allows travel!  ;-)

Another beautiful day in Charleston

Another great day!  Perfectly clear and 70 degrees.  We began the day at a small restaurant called the Early Bird.  The Early Bird has actually been featured on the Food Network for the dish we tried today... chicken and waffles.  Yep, you read right.

Chicken & Waffles.  Breakfast of Champions!

The combination didn't really make it, as far as we are concerned.  The chicken was, however, out of this world delicious.

After breakfast, we traveled back to the historic district to take a carriage tour.

The company we used, Old South Carriage Tours, was highly rated and rightfully so.  We learned a lot on our one-hour tour.  For example, in the Old South, the kitchen was separated from the main house due to fire hazard.  This picture is a good example:

Brick building in lower left was the kitchen for the main house on the right

Well, the slaves who carried the food from the detached kitchen to the main house were known to occasionally help themselves to a sample.  To remedy this practice, the owners required the slaves to whistle while bringing food in... you can't eat if your whistling!  This lead to the phrase "whistle while you work."  I looked it up and it's actually true.  Though less certain, one explanation for the word "hushpuppy" is that these corn treats were used to silence the dogs that naturally came running when the slaves were whistling while carrying tasty delights.

Many other interesting stories and photos, but they'll have to wait.  Below is a photo of Janice saying goodbye to our carriage horse, Amos.  Why use draft horses?  The law requires the weight of the animal(s) pulling the carriage to be at least 1,800 pounds.  The weight isn't really needed to pull the carriage... it's needed to stop it!  That's why you see only one draft horse pulling some carriages, while it takes two mules or quarter horses to make the weight limit.

You oughta see Amos parallel park!  He's awesome!

74 and rainy today; a good time to catch up.  Janice and I visited Magnolia Plantation yesterday.  The plantation has been owned by the same family since the 1600's.  Probably a good idea if we spend some time today planning on where we're going when we leave here on the 24th.  Our first reservation after that is 12/22 at Sarasota.  We plan on stopping in Savannah, but it doesn't seem to be a plethora of RV campgrounds.  I'm sure we'll find somewhere, even if its a Walmart parking lot!  Once the weather clears up (tomorrow?) we plan on a downtown carriage tour and a visit to the U.S.S. Yorktown.  Below are some pics from Magnolia Plantation.

Sunny and 74 degrees today in Charleston. Nice to wear shorts again! Got to cross off one of my major bucket list items today when we visited Ft. Sumter, site of the first shots of the Civil War. Weather is supposed to be even warmer tomorrow, and we're planning on taking a carriage tour downtown and visit a plantation or two.

Ft. Sumter, at one time a three-story fortress

The remnants of the Ft. Sumter officer's quarters.  The fort had an 85-man garrison at the outbreak of the war... 13 of which were the band!

Another day in Mayberry, and another pork chop sandwich at Snappy Lunch!  Gotta get it "all the way," with chili, cole slaw, mustard, onion and tomato.  Luckily, we won't pass by it on our way out of town... I think I might have gotten verklempt!  I need a moment.  Talk amonst yourselves.  The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy nor Roman... discuss.

OK, I'm better now.  Did you know that famous personages other than Andy Griffith lived in Mount Airy?  Ever hear of Eng and Chang Bunker?  (no, they were not related to Archie)  Eng and Chang were the first conjoined twins upon whom the term "Siamese twins" was applied.  They were indeed Siamese (now Thailand) and were brought to the U.S. by a British sea captain.  They became quite wealthy as circus curiosities, later becoming southern gentlemen and slave owners.  They married two sisters.  They all slept in the same bed; Eng fathered 11 children and Chang fathered 10 (or was it the other way around?).  Anyway, 21 kids in total.  Yeah, I couldn't visualize it either!  Worth a trip to Google to check these guys out!

Chang and Eng Bunker

Tomorrow, it's off to Charleston, SC.  Can't wait to visit Ft. Sumter!  In closing, a couple of other Mayberry pics:

Janice at the Courthouse.  Can she REALLY get a divorce here

Otis Wray.  Hey, this ain't too bad!  When does Aunt Bea get here with lunch?

Well, we've arrived at Mount Airy, NC, the hometown of Andy Griffith and the basis for the town of Mayberry in the Andy Griffith Show.  On the way here, we swung into Dublin, VA for a bite of lunch.  After passing all the fast food restaurants, I decided a U-turn was in order.  After all, it's a four-lane divided highway, so plenty of room, even though Janice thought it a bit too tight.  But, hey, who's got the vast truck driving experience, right?  it was too tight.  We (I) have now completely blocked two lanes of traffic.  Can't back up with the truck hitched, so it's time to bail out and do a pit stop style disconnect of the toad.  Nobody honked or swore (so that we could hear), and we clear the intersection and pull into a Walmart lot to regroup.  Enter the Sheriff's Deputy.  Someone had reported a motorhome broken down in the intersection.  We explained my little faux pas and he couldn't have been nicer.  Said the same thing happened to him one time.

On Wednesday we tour downtown.  We have pork tenderloins at Snappy Lunch (only real business mentioned by name in the TV show).  They are phenomenal!  If ever in the area, stop by... definitely worth the detour.  Next, since I need a haircut, it's a stop at Floyd's Barber Shop.  I even got to meet the "real" Floyd, Russell Hiatt, now 91 years old.

Getting my hair cut at Floyd's.  The "real" Floyd, Russell Hiatt, is the gentlemen in the next chair

We then took a tour in a Mayberry era squad car.  very informative and the driver was a blast.  Speaking of blasts, did you know that Mount Airy is home to the world's largest open-faced granite quarry?  A really fun day!  We hope to see the Andy Griffith Museum before we leave.

Our first hiccup!  We arrived at Shenandoah Crossing at twilight on Nov. 6 only to find that our reservation for a pull-through site had morphed into a back-in site too small for our motorhome.  I parked in "overflow parking," unhooked the toad, and Janice drove it to the office while I stayed with the coach (and had a cocktail!).  Janice returned, saying everything was set and then uttered the infamous words "follow me!"  It is now pitch dark and Janice promptly takes us into areas where 44-ft. motorhomes were never meant to tread!!  In her defense, the roads were narrow and the road signs and site numbers were carved into wooden signs and were totally unreadable. Those factors did not, however, in any way minimize the epithets that were being uttered by yours truly!  Finally, Janice obtained the aid of another camper and we found our site.  Did I mention the road was narrow?  That it was DARK?!  The pull-through site had a rail fence post on one corner of the pad, and a tree on the other!!  Clearly, the designer of the RV park had no idea what he was doing!  This evaluation was confirmed after, finally squeezing our MH into the site, the MH only leveled after the right front wheel was well off the ground!  (a host at the resort later stated to us that the people who constructed the RV park didn't know what they were doing...  ya think?)  The next day was clear and bright, and would have been a great day for activities... EXCEPT we had to attend the sales pitch.  Ours was a promotional stay which cost us a total of about $30, and it was time to pay the piper.  The presentation was actually not high pressure, and we politely declined spending $$$ for a membership.  After the presentation, we decided to take the bikes of the truck and go for a ride.  OOPS!  "Did you have the keys for the cable lock last?"  "No, I thought you had them."  The keys were lost and the rains began, lasting the remaining two days of our trip.  The next day we found a locksmith who picked the Master padlock in about 15 seconds (really feeling secure about our storage units back in Springfield now!), after which we drove to Monticello.  Really fabulous!  Awe-inspiring to walk the same grounds as Jefferson and stand in his study.  And talk about beautiful country!  We visited Madison's Montpelier the following day.  Weather getting nippy, so we decide to forego our planned visit to Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate and we head directly to the warmer climes of the South.  On to Mayberry, RFD!